Moses spoke three words that carried immense weight: "Eat it today" (Exodus 16:25). He said it not once but three times in the same verse. "Eat it today, for it is Sabbath today. Today you shall not find it in the field." The repetition of "today" caught the attention of the rabbis, who found a legal ruling and a prophetic promise hidden in those three statements.
Rabbi Zrika derived from the triple "today" that Jews are obligated to eat three meals on the Sabbath. Each "today" corresponds to one meal: the Friday evening meal, the Shabbat (the Sabbath) morning meal, and the afternoon meal. This teaching became foundational in Jewish law. The three Sabbath meals, shalosh seudot (שלוש סעודות), are still observed to this day, and their origin traces back to Moses' words in the wilderness.
Rabbi Yehoshua found something even grander in the same verse. He read Moses' words as a conditional promise: if you merit observing the Sabbath, the Holy One Blessed be He is destined to give you three festivals. Pesach (Passover), Atzereth (Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks), and Succoth (the Festival of Booths). The three mentions of "today" correspond not just to three meals but to three future holy days.
This connection between Shabbat and the festivals is profound. Rabbi Yehoshua was teaching that the Sabbath is the root from which all other sacred times grow. If Israel proves faithful in observing the weekly rest, God rewards them with the annual cycle of pilgrimage festivals. Shabbat comes first. The holidays follow as its fruit.